


Tea Time

by Princess of Geeks (Princess)



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: After Bilbo's Return, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-15
Updated: 2015-12-15
Packaged: 2018-05-06 23:28:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5434811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princess/pseuds/Princess%20of%20Geeks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bilbo reluctantly goes to tea at the Sackville-Bagginses'. Tradition, you know.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tea Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [baranduin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/baranduin/gifts).



He couldn't get out of it; it was one of those traditional customs that the Baggins side of the family most strictly adhered to. Midweek tea at Lobelia's had been a point of pride for her for all the years since she had inherited the status that came with being the oldest female of the Baggins clan. 

Moving back into Bag End had consumed so much of his energy, and he'd ignored her first formal invitation and begged off the second one, but this week he really had no excuse. None. His hole was more-or-less back in order -- he'd retrieved all of the furniture and nearly all of the housewares. Some of his clothing was gone forever, it seemed, but that was easily remedied. It was the family heirlooms he was most concerned about. 

Funny how the routine traditions of Shirefolk, by which he had once set so much store, seemed a bit petty and overdetailed, since he'd been back. 

But, grumping and huffing, he buttoned himself into a clean and pressed shirt and found an embroidered waistcoat suitable to the season. Also, it had nice deep pockets, perfect for hiding his ring.

The short walk to her family's hole was pleasant, at least, and the food there was always good. Lobelia's cook was a relative of the Gamgees', and that family was as famous for its cooks as it was for its rope-makers and gardeners.

He took great pleasure in boring them all with a long answer to a polite question about his travels, only concluding his saga when the teapot came round again.

He reached for the sugar bowl and was brought up short. He gazed at the row of silver spoons, leaned closer, and finally picked one up, holding it before his eyes in violation of table etiquette. Conversation around him fell silent.

"Lobelia?" Bilbo said. "May I ask, just precisely when you were planning on returning my spoons?"


End file.
